The plight of a British backpacker who suffered a brain injury on a Tasmanian dairy farm has prompted calls for tougher workplace safety laws.

Holly Raper was 21 when she was left in a near-vegetative state after being hurt riding a quad bike on a King Island farm in 2011.

The British woman spent months in hospital in Hobart before being flown back home to Lancashire.

She is severely brain damaged and will be fed through a tube for the rest of her life.

Her employer was fined $3,000 and her manager $1,200 for negligence under workplace safety laws.

The Raper family's lawyer, Brian Hilliard, says his clients are seeking more compensation.

He says they also want the State Government to consider tougher penalties for employers whose workers are severely injured.

"My problem is that if the deterrent is $3,000 fine for a 21 year-old girls' life ruined, then that's not much of a deterrent," he said.

"I would be urging the Government to consider bringing back open common law, so that employers know that if they're negligent and they cause injury then they will have to face court and explain themselves."

The Premier, Lara Giddings, says she cannot talk about individual cases but state legislation expects a high standard from employers.